A little boy in Kentucky contacted her about one of her stories about a dog, and a gentleman in Saudi Arabia who emails her is a fan of many of her stories.

With her latest submission published in "Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just Us Girls," Lil Blosfield, of Jackson Township, has written about a topic that even more people may be able to relate to: a friendship that has withstood the test of time.

In just a couple of pages, Blosfield has deftly summarized more than 30 years of friendship with Barb Schumacher, of Massillon. Her story focuses on a difficult time, in particular, which Schumacher made a little bit easier through her kindness.

"A Friend in Need" is about when Blosfield's father died unexpectedly 10 years ago while he was on his way home from vacationing in Florida with Blosfield's mother, and while Blosfield was with her family in Disney World. Blosfield quickly re-packed her family's luggage to return home. Schumacher was practically in her driveway at the same time with much-needed food, hugs and shared tears, Blosfield said.

Schumacher also worked behind the scenes preparing and setting out food for the gathering of Blosfield's family after her father's memorial service.

"It was a tough period and she was great as she always is," Blosfield said. "I think a lot of people will be able to relate to that."

Blosfield and Schumacher have been friends since attending Jackson High School together.

"I was kind of a shy scholarly type and she was the fun-loving gregarious one and it just clicked," Blosfield said. "We became best friends and had many adventures throughout the years."

Blosfield is the chief financial officer at Child and Adolescent and Behavioral Health in Canton. She has written for at least a dozen anthologies and one of her excerpts is even printed on the side of a Chicken Soup for the Soul soup package.

"This one came so easily," Blosfield said. "All the stories are true and close to the heart. I literally wrote it in about 10 minutes."

She said she was bitten by the writing bug in second grade when she won a writing contest and she was rewarded by being allowed to skip English class so she could read her story to kindergartners. She plans to continue to submit stories for future titles.

"We get along so well but there are so many differences," Blosfield said. "We've been through so many events together. In our 20s we had wild adventures. We shared an apartment in Massillon in our 20s when we were trying to figure things out. That had a lot of fun involved. We've gotten through the weddings and the births and the deaths — just the whole gamut of life. We're both very busy right now at work and even if we don't see each other for a long period of time, we pick up right where we left off."

Page 2 of 2 - The pair met this week in Massillon on their lunch breaks, and it was the first time Schumacher read the story. The book came out Nov. 5.

"This was going to be a surprise for Barb because her birthday is in early December," Blosfield said. "I thought, what a perfect surprise for her birthday."

Schumacher's eyes were tearing up before she even read the story. "When I read the story, it was even worse," she said. "I felt so honored. I feel lucky to have a friend that would think that much of me, and it's just such a blessing to know that you have a friend — no matter how many months or days you go without seeing her, when you see each other again it's like no time has passed. Those friendships are very genuine."